Institute of Environmental Research At Greater Bay, Innovation Center and Key Laboratory of Water Quality and Conservation in the Pearl River Delta, Ministry of Education, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Guangzhou University, Guangzhou, 510006, China.
Institute of Environmental Research At Greater Bay, Innovation Center and Key Laboratory of Water Quality and Conservation in the Pearl River Delta, Ministry of Education, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Guangzhou University, Guangzhou, 510006, China.
J Environ Manage. 2019 Nov 15;250:109513. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2019.109513. Epub 2019 Sep 11.
Thallium (Tl) is an uncommon toxic element, with an even greater toxicity than that of As, Hg and Cd. Steel-making industry has been identified as an emerging new significant source of Tl contamination in China. This paper presents a pilot investigation of the contamination and geochemical transfer of Tl and associated metal(loid)s in river sediments affected by long-term waste discharge from the steel-making industry. The results uncovered an overall Tl contamination (1.96 ± 0.42 mg/kg) across a sediment profile of approximately 1.5 m in length, even 10 km downstream the steel plant. Highly elevated contents of Pb, Cu, Cd, Zn and Sb were found in the fluvial sediments, displaying strong positive correlations with Tl contents. Elevated levels of geochemically mobile Tl as well as Cd, Zn, Cu and Pb occurred in the fluvial sediments, signifying anthropogenic imprints from steel production activities at high temperature. Levels of contamination and ecological risk were calculated to be moderate to considerable for Tl, Cu, Zn and high to very high for Cd, Pb, Sb. The results highlight that there is a great challenge in view of potentially considerable Tl pollution due to continuous massive steel production in many other parts of China. It is high time to initiate process-based management of Tl contamination control for the ambient aquifer system in the steel-making area.
铊（Tl）是一种罕见的有毒元素，其毒性比砷、汞和镉更大。钢铁行业已被确定为中国一个新的重要铊污染来源。本研究对受钢铁厂长期排放废物影响的河流沉积物中铊及相关金属（类）的污染和地球化学迁移进行了初步调查。结果表明，在大约 1.5 米长的沉积物剖面上，整体铊污染（1.96±0.42mg/kg），即使在距离钢厂 10 公里的下游地区也是如此。河流沉积物中发现 Pb、Cu、Cd、Zn 和 Sb 的含量非常高，与 Tl 含量呈强烈正相关。河流沉积物中存在高含量的地球化学活性 Tl 以及 Cd、Zn、Cu 和 Pb，这表明来自高温钢铁生产活动的人为影响。对于 Tl、Cu、Zn 的污染水平和生态风险被评估为中等至严重，对于 Cd、Pb、Sb 的污染水平和生态风险则被评估为高至非常高。这些结果表明，考虑到中国许多其他地区持续大规模的钢铁生产，可能会存在相当大的铊污染，这是一个巨大的挑战。现在是时候对钢铁生产区的环境含水层系统开展基于过程的 Tl 污染控制管理了。
